Hemp-brake



UNITED STATES i PATENT OEEICE.

RICHARD S. WEBB, OF LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALBERT ANGELL, OF ORANGE VALLEY, NEV JERSEY.

H EiViPY- BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 549,411, dated November 5, 1895.

Application filed March 20, 1 89 5.

f serial N0. 542,4.5v3. (No moda.)

To all whom, it may concern.:

Be it kownthat I, RICHARD S. WEBB, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Lexington, Fayette county, State of Kentucky, have invented certainy new and usefulA Improvements in Hemp-Brakes, fully described and represented in the following specication andthe accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to furnish an improved beater for breaking the hempstalks and for loosening the pith and bark which are notdislodged in the breaking operation, and also forprotecting the upper side of the broken fiber from the deposit of such pith and bark when once removed and for shielding an operator (when engaged in removing the fiber) from the dirt and refuse which are thrown toward the rear end of the machine.

The invention is illustrated in the annexed drawings, in which- Figure l is a vertical section of the apparatus; Fig. 2, a side elevation showing the driving. gearing; and Fig. 3 is a diagram upon a largerscale than the other iigures, to illustrate the form of the beater-bars.

A is the wooden frame, having bearings for the transverse beater-shaft B, for the feed-roll shafts O and O', for the shafts of the apron-rolls E and E', and for the shaft of the apron pressure-roll F. The shafts O and F are made adjustable. A

The beater is furnish ed with rotary heads l), radial blades b', and beater-bars d, which are rounded upon the rear corner. The upper feed-roll c is corrugated to break the stalks upon the upper side, while the lower feed-roll c/ is smooth. These rolls are shown at the left side of the beater with the breakbar Il between the two, and adjustable (by means of foot h) to and from the bars d of the beater.

A feed-table I is shown adjacent to the feed-rolls, with the stalks J thereon. A shield a, made of elastic sheet metal, is attached to the break-bar H and extended toward the upper side of the beater to hold the fibers in the desired contact with the beater-bars.

' of the beater.

A screw or screws a are provided'toadjust the shield to and from the beaters. A shaft for blower K is mounted over the beater-shaft B, and its blades k are provided at the' ends with yielding flaps Z, made of leather or rubber cloth,a1id arranged to brush the upper side of the iiber which lies upon the top of the beater.

The path of the fiber from the upper side of the beater l'is' represented by the lines j.

The delivery-aprons e and e are shown applied to the rolls E E' at the right-hand side The lower apron is set close enough to. the beater to pick up but not press the iiber and the upper apron is set somewhat farther from the beater, to admit the liber freely to the space between the aprons and thus avoid buckling the fiber.

The aprons at their ends are separated, so as not to press the fiber at all; but an adjustable presser-roll F is arranged within the lower apron to press it against the upper apron. The fiber is thus grasped between yielding aprons which hold and deliver it without crushing the same.

An inclined board or chute L is arranged beneath the beater to catch the pith and chaif which fall from the under side of the fiber, and a blower M is arranged to deliver its blast along such chute, and thus prevent the accumulation `of dirt beneath the beater, which discharges a great volume of such material v constantly.

In Fig. 2 a pulley N is shown upon the beater-shaft to propel the entire machine, the

, shaft being connected with the feed-rollo by gears c2, and the shafts C and E being connected by sprocket-wheels and chains e2. The feed-rolls are connected by cog-wheels c3 and the shafts of the rolls E E' by cogwheels e3. The blowers K and M are provided with pulleys and driven by cords from a pulley N. The cords n are designated merely by dotted lines to avoid obscuring the other parts of the figure, and the gears c2, c3, and e3 are denoted merely by dotted lines where they are obscured by other parts.

By the gearing shown or other suitable gearing the beater is propelled at a high rate of speed and the blowers at a still higher rate, while the feed-rolls and delivery-aprons are ICO driven at a suitable rate to feed the stalks into the machine and deliver the cleaned liber therefrom.

The upper side of the feed-aprons is covered by a platform P, from the rear end of which a guard Q is extended upwardly. The platform prevents the refuse from falling upon the aprons and the cleaned liber, and the guard intercepts the refuse and thus protects the operator and the cleaned liber from the sa-me. At the sides of the bearer and delivery aprons the frame is closed by side plates or cheek-pieces m, but is otherwise open to permit the ready removal of the refuse, which accumulates with great rapidity in the use of such machines.

I lind it avoids serious injury to the liber to round the rear corners of the beater-bars, and Fig. 3 shows one of the beater-bars (l enlarged and of the same shape as those in Fig. l, which consists of a round stick with the front side flattened off at a suitable distance from the center to leave a convex projection CZ, which presses the stalks aga-inst the breakbar H and against the shield a, The front corner of the bar, by flattening the round stick at one side of the center, is formed a little inside of the path in which the libers pass over the beater, and thus avoids scraping the libers, although it presents a suitable corner to catch any pith or bark projecting from the fibers and elfectually removes the same.

The operation of the entire apparatus is as follows: The stalk is fed between the rolls c and e', being broken only upon the upper side by the corrugated roll rlhe beaters then break the stalks upon the under side by driving it against the break-bar H, and they then operate to rub the pith and bark from the liber by the pressure of the shield a, which holds the liber against the beaters with the required degree of tension. The blades b of the beater operate to discharge a blast of air through the liber and thus discharge the pith, bark, and dirt upwardly. The blower K drives a blast of air toward the platform P, and thus blows the refuse upon such platform, where it is intercepted by the guard Q. The liber falls upon the nearer end of the apron e and is carried between the aprons, from which it is delivered at the rear end.

The refuse may be removed from the platform P by the operator, or automatically, as by a transverse blast or a traveling carrier. The refuse which falls below the beater is driven from the chute L by the blast of the blower lll.

Many varieties of hemp-brakes have been devised, but all are deficient in some respect, as they fail to clean the liber or else injure the same and produce tow77 in the effort to remove the pith and bark.

I have shown a variety ol details which are not claimed herein; but the features which I desire to claim herein arel. In a hemp brake, the combination, with feeding mechanism, a break-bar, anda rotary beater arranged to beat the stalks upon the under side of such break-bar, of delivery aprons at one side of the beater, and a platform above the aprons to protect the top of the liber from the pith and chalf.

2. In a hemp brake, the combination, with feeding mechanism, a break bar, and a rotary beater arranged to beat the stalks upon the under side of such break bar, of delivery.

aprons at one side of the beater, a platform above the aprons to protect the same from the pith and chaff, and a shield at the 'farther end of the platform to protect the operator from such pith and chaff.

In a hemp brake, the combination, with feeding mechanism, a breakbar and a rotary beater having beater bars flat in front and rounded on the rear outer corner as set forth, and arranged to beat the stalks upon the under side of the break bar, of the delivery aprons at the rear side of the beater, the platform above the aprons to protect the same from the pith and chaff, a blower arranged above the rotary beater to blow the refuse upon the platform, and a shield at the farther end of the platform to protect the operator from such refuse, substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RICHARD S. XVEIEIE. Vitnesses:

E. D. SAYER, T. L. WARREN. 

